German Word Order: Week 5 Bausteine eins
Three easy rules for simple German sentences
English and German are quite similar in some ways, but there are quite a few differences between them, for example, that will work to your disadvantage, if you structure your German sentences according to your knowledge of English sentence structure.
In the following, we’re going to take a look at three simple rules that will help you create simple German sentences with confidence. Before we get started, it’s important to point out that we will be working here with the following sorts of sentences:
ones that only have one verb, and
ones that don’t use subordinating conjunctions (if you don’t know what these are yet, that’s ok. We don’t need to be using them yet).
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So, let’s talk about normal German sentences, starting off with statements (ie not asking questions)
Rule 1
The verb in normal German statements is always in the second position.
And that’s where it’s going to stay, no matter what else we do. (for now)
Rule 2
The verb and the subject in normal German statements is always right next to each other
This means that it doesn’t really matter, where it is in the sentence, as long as it’s next to the verb. So, either of these alternatives are possible.
Rule 3
Following the verb and the subject other elements will generally be in the order time/manner/place/object
Of course, we don’t have to always use all of these elements, and it’s important to note that this differs from the way the elements are arranged in normal English sentences, where, for example, place often comes before time.
If we want to say that we like / enjoy doing what the verb expresses, then we can also use the word ‘gern’ immediately after both the subject and verb
Our Rules in Action
We are familiar with sentences like these:
Ich spiele gern Tennis
Here, we can easily see that the verb (spiele) is in the second position (Rule 1), and the subject (ich) is right next to it (Rule 2). Our other elements are ‘gern’ (which always follows both subject and verb) and the object (which is often at the end of the sentence, as seen in Rule 3).
Der neue Nachbar und sein Partner wandern gern
Here, it looks like the verb is maybe NOT in the second position, but only because the subject (the new neighbour and his partner) consists of quite a few words. The verb IS however in the right spot. If we ask WHO likes to hike, then we know that it’s the people who preceded the verb (the new neighbour and his partner).
Im Winter machen wir gern Urlaub
Here, the subject is NOT in the first position, but, of course, it doesn’t have to be. It just needs to be next to the verb. In the first position, we have instead a time phrase—which is often how we start sentences in both German and English.
Notice, how the verb is still in the second position (Rule 1), and the subject is right next to it—just on the other side now (Rule 2).
Sie arbeitet in den Sommerferien bei Aldi
Here, the subject (sie) and verb (arbeitet) are in the usual positions. Following the verb/subject, we have two other elements:
time phrase: in den Sommerferien [three words]
place phrase: bei Aldi [two words]
Notice, how the different elements can often consist of more than one word.
Questions
Questions have much the same structure, but it’s important to note that there are two types of question:
Yes/No Question
Information questions
Yes/No Questions
If we want to know something where the answer is yes / no (ja / nein), then the VERB will be in the first position (not the second position).
In statements, we are used to seeing subject then verb,
but in yes/no questions, we start with the verb. RULE 2 still applies: The subject and the verb are still right next to each other.
Examples
Arbeitet sie im Sommer bei Aldi?
Here, the subject (sie) and verb (arbeitet) are right next to each other, and our sentence starts with the verb. Following the verb / subject, we have two other elements in the order governed by RULE 3: time / place. There are only two possible answers here:
Ja, sie arbeitet im Sommer bei Aldi
Nein, sie arbeitet im Sommer nicht bei Aldi*
Note: depending on which part of the sentence we are trying to negate (not at Aldi, not in Summer), the position of nicht will vary.
Wanderst du gern am Wochenende?
Again, the subject (du) and verb (wanderst) are right next to each other, and our sentence starts with the verb. Following the verb / subject, we have two other elements in the order governed by RULE 3: gern / time. There are only two possible answers here:
Ja, ich wandere gern am Wochenende
Nein, ich wandere nicht gern am Wochenende*
Note: to negate ‘gern’ (ie. say that we don’t like doing something), we just use ‘nicht’ before the word ‘gern’.
Information Questions
If we want to find out more specific information, then we need to use the same structure, but we will start our questions with a w-question word. Here are some examples of the sorts of words we can use:
Let’s take some of our yes/no questions, and find out some more information:
Wo wanderst du gern am Wochenende?
Here, we are trying to find out, where (wo) the person we’re talking to likes to hike. Notice the word order otherwise follows the rules we have outlined.
Warum wanderst du gern am Wochenende?
Why? These questions are often difficult to answer, because we need to give a reason.
Wohin wanderst du gern am Wochenende?
Here, we’re not asking where the person likes to hike, but where they like hiking to. A subtle difference maybe, but also an important one.
Wann wanderst du gern am Wochenende?
Much the same pattern as before, but we’re just trying to find out when exactly the person likes hiking at the weekend. ie am Samstag or maybe am Sonntag (on Saturday / on Sunday)
What now?
If you have Bausteine eins, then I recommend you turn to Chapter 5 and work through some of the exercises where you will get some practice including different elements, varying sentence structure and even joining sentences together.
If you don’t have Bausteine eins, you can pick it up here: